Terms of Business

The purpose of this document is to set out clearly and concisely the extent of the letting and management service offered and the scale of fees charged.

This Agreement is made between the landlord(s) being the owner of the property, named in this Agreement, hereinafter referred to as ‘the Landlord’ and Rooftops Letting & Management Limited who agree to act as agent for the Landlord and are hereinafter referred to as ‘the Agent’.

STANDARD SERVICE - LETTING ONLY

Visit the property and advise on rents, furnishings and the latest regulations.

Promote, advertise and market the property to find a suitable tenant and arrange

Prepare and sign on the Landlord’s behalf the Agent’s Tenancy Agreement and serve any appropriate statutory notices.

Draw up a detailed inventory of the contents and general condition of the property.

Collect the security deposit and first month’s rental from the tenant(s) and forward the balance of monies received minus Rooftops fees. See Fees section.

Advise the statutory authorities of the meter readings (gas and electricity) and also transfer the Council Tax and water charges into the tenant’s name at the commencement of the tenancy (subject to the Data Protection Act).

LETTING AND RENTAL COLLECTION

Collection of the monthly rents and remitting them accordingly either by cheque or directly to a U.K. bank account in sterling.

Mailing monthly statements of the Landlord’s account.

To renew or extend an existing tenancy agreement upon the same terms as the existing Tenancy Agreement or as determined by the Agent at their own discretion in the Landlord’s interest.

LETTING AND FULL MANAGEMENT SERVICE

Arrange for the tenant to move in to the property.

Advise on insurance requirements.

Liaise with the tenant(s) and Landlord regarding any problems which may occur during the tenancy.

Inspecting the property at quarterly intervals and advising the Landlord.

To carry out the general repairs and statutory obligations of the managing Agent on the Landlord’s behalf.

On termination of the tenancy carry out a full inventory inspection, collect keys and arrange for the return of the tenant’s deposit subject to any damage, cleaning or missing items.

Where the property remains unoccupied between letting periods, it must be distinctly understood that our management service does not include supervision of the property. Rooftops offer a caretaking service for unoccupied properties, which includes checks for exterior and interior damage and collection and forwarding of the Landlord’s mail.

A balance of £150.00 will be deducted from the Landlord funds prior to the end of the tenancy to cover for any outstanding costs arising from any works that have been carried out at the property. The outstanding balance will be forwarded to the Landlord at the end of tenancy.

A balance of one month’s rent will be held back from the Landlord’s funds at the start of the tenancy in the event of any tenant paying six months or more in advance. This sum will be held back to cover any costs that may arise during the tenancy and the balance re-paid to the Landlord at the end of the tenancy.

SALE OF A PROPERTY

In the event of a party introduced by the Agent (or any person or body corporate associated with that party) subsequently purchasing the property, whether before or after entering into a Tenancy Agreement, commission shall be payable by the Landlord to the Agent on completion of the sale at a rate of 1% of the sale purchase.

SAFETY REGULATIONS

The Landlord hereby warrants to the Agent that the Safety Regulations have been fully complied with in the property to be let. The Landlord agrees to indemnify the Agent against any expenses or penalties that may be suffered as a result of non-compliance of the property to the following safety standards:

LANDLORD AND AGENT

The Landlord agrees to provide all necessary information required by the Agent to undertake the service and that all instructions must be confirmed in writing.

The Landlord agrees to inform the Agent of any changes affecting the proposed letting or services.

Any instructions given orally must be confirmed in writing. Any notice or written communication shall be sent in writing by post to the Landlord at the known address or any later address as advised by the Landlord in writing. Any notification from the Landlord to the Agent should be sent to the address stated in this Agreement.

AGENT’S REMUNERATION

All fees and charges will be retained by the Agent out of all rents and monies received by them in accordance with this Agreement.

PERMISSION TO LET THE PROPERTY

The Landlord warrants that he is legally entitled to grant the tenancy created and has obtained any appropriate consent from any mortgagee or superior landlord or other interested party and the property agreed to be let is not subject to any restrictive or other covenants or stipulations which have not been disclosed to the tenant(s) and the observant(s) and performance of which would restrict or lessen the tenant’s enjoyment of the said property.

TERMINATION OF THIS AGREEMENT

This Agreement may be terminated by either party by serving 7 days’ notice in writing unless the Agent has received a completed application form from a tenant and a satisfactory credit search, under which circumstances Section ‘Withdrawal of Instructions’ will apply.

Under the Rental Collection and Management Service once a tenancy has been created the Agreement between the Landlord and the Agent cannot be terminated until the end of the tenancy.

LIABILITIES - LETTING ONLY AND RENTAL COLLECTION

Under the Letting Only Service and Letting and Rental Collection Service, it is the Landlord’s responsibility to carry out all management duties and repairs to the property. The Landlord agrees that no liability shall be attached to the Agent against any expenses, claims, damages or costs that may arise for breach of any statutory requirements.

LIABILITIES - FULL MANAGEMENT SERVICE

The Agent has authority to carry out repairs including the replacement, maintenance or repair of any furnishings, fixtures or fittings within the property up to the amount stated in this Agreement, and the Landlord fully indemnifies the Agent against all costs relating to this. No liability shall be attached to the Agent for any such claims caused by the Landlord’s negligence of such statutory obligations or regulations deemed necessary at the property as stated in this Agreement under ‘Safety Regulations’.

LIABILITY OF THE AGENT

The Agent employees or Agents are not authorised to make any representations on behalf of the Agents and in entering into the Agreement the Landlord acknowledges that the Landlord does not rely on any such representations which are not confirmed by the Agent.

Any advice or recommendation given by the Agent or its employees or agents to the Landlord or its employees or agents as to any matter relating to the property which is not confirmed in writing by the Agent is followed or acted upon entirely at the Landlord’s risk and accordingly the Agent shall not be liable for any such advice or recommendation which is not so confirmed.

Any typographical, clerical or other error or omission in any “sales” literature, “price list", “acceptance of terms", “invoice” or other document or other information issued by the Agent shall be subject to correction without any liability on the part of the Agent.

The Agent is not responsible for any error, omission or misrepresentation in any report obtained by the Agent for the Landlord from a credit agency in respect of a prospective tenant.

Any inventory or schedule of fixtures and fittings provided by the Agent to the Landlord shall be a factual record of what is present at the Landlord’s property on the date recorded on such schedule and is not a record of the condition of any fixtures and fittings unless specifically referred to in such schedule.

No liability shall be attached to the Agent either in contract or in tort or otherwise for any loss, injury, damage, or legal or other expenses arising out of:

the Agent having reasonably relied upon information supplied by the Landlord

any forecast or prediction given by the Agent

any defect or failure to identify any defect in the property fixtures, fittings, furnishings or appliances whether or not such defect be apparent upon examination

the act, omission, default or insolvency of any person other than the Agent

any failure of the tenant to pay any monies due to the Landlord or the Agent or comply with the Terms of the Tenancy Agreement.

LIABILITIES

Terms and Conditions

The Landlord shall indemnify the Agent in respect of any claims made by any Third Party for any loss, injury, damage, costs and legal or other expenses.

Subject to those expressly provided in these Conditions all warranties, conditions or other terms implied by statute or common law are excluded to the fullest extent permitted by law.

The Agent shall not be liable to indemnify the Landlord in respect of any claims made by a Third Party for any loss, injury, damage, costs and legal or other expenses.

At all times it is the responsibility of the Landlord to ensure that the property is fully insured at all times to cover all reasonable risks and in particular if ever the property is vacant for any period of time.

Any communication from the Agent shall be in writing addressed to the Landlord and will be deemed to be delivered to the Landlord if posted by the Agent to the last known address of the Landlord.

The Landlord authorises the Agent to refund to any tenant all or part of a deposit in the discretion of the Agent and further authorises the Agent to carry out any item of expenditure in respect of the property in the discretion of the Agent.

INDEMNITY

The Landlord agrees that no liability shall be attached to the Agent against any costs, expenses or liabilities incurred or imposed on the Agent under this Agreement.

CLIENT’S MONEY

Client’s monies are held in Rooftops Letting and Management designated Landlord’s accounts, in which no interests will be paid.

DATA PROTECTION ACT

All information concerning tenants or occupiers of property is confidential. All Landlords’ details are confidential and the information will be held by Rooftops Letting and Management strictly in accordance with the provisions of the Data Protection Act and any amendments thereto.

CHANGES TO THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Rooftops Letting and Management may alter or amend these Terms and Conditions at any time without notice. They will be binding on all clients at the time of notification, except for properties fully managed where the alterations will be binding at the end of the current tenancy, unless the amendments result from statutory changes, in which case they will take effect immediately on notification. Rooftops Letting and Management will not accept any alterations to these Terms and Conditions unless agreed in writing prior to the commencement of the agency and signed by a director, a copy of which is to be annexed to these Terms and Conditions.

TENANCY DEPOSIT SCHEME

DEFINITIONS

“the Deposit” means the sum paid by the Tenant to the Landlord in respect of any damage or disrepair occasioned to the Property. “Held as Stakeholder” means the apportionment of any deposit deductions at the end of the Tenancy should be jointly agreed by Landlord and Tenant before monies are released by the Landlord/ Agent. Any amount in dispute will not be paid to either party until mutual agreement is reached or an appropriate third party decision made. “ICE” is the Independent Case Examiner of The Dispute Service Limited.

If the property is managed, Rooftops will hold the Deposit under the terms of the Tenancy Deposit Scheme.

The Agent holds tenancy deposits as Stakeholder.

At the end of the tenancy covered by the Tenancy Deposit Scheme:-

If there is no dispute, the Agent/Landlord will keep any amounts agreed as deductions where expenditure has been incurred on behalf of the Landlord, or repay the whole or the balance of the Deposit according to the conditions of the Tenancy Agreement with the Landlord and the Tenant. Payment of the Deposit will be made within 10 working days of written consent from both parties.

If, after 10 working days following notification of a dispute to the Agent/Member and reasonable attempts have been made in that time to resolve any differences of opinion, there remains an unresolved dispute between the Landlord and the Tenant over the allocation of the Deposit, it will (subject to 4.3 below) be submitted to the ICE for adjudication. All parties agree to co-operate with any adjudication.

When the amount in dispute is over £5,000 the Landlord and the Tenant will agree by signing the Tenancy Agreement to submit the dispute to formal arbitration through the engagement of an arbitrator appointed by the ICE, although, with the written consent of both parties, the ICE may at his discretion accept the dispute for adjudication. The appointment of an arbitrator will incur an administration fee, to be fixed by the Board of the Dispute Service Limited from time to time, shared equally between the Landlord and the Tenant. The liability for any subsequent costs will be dependent upon the award made by the arbitrator.

The statutory rights of either the Landlord or the Tenant(s) to take legal action against the other party remain unaffected.

It is not compulsory for the parties to refer the dispute to the ICE for adjudication. The parties may, if either party chooses to do so, seek the decision of the Court. However, this process may take longer and may incur further costs. Judges may, because it is a condition of the Tenancy Agreement signed by both parties, refer the dispute back to ICE for adjudication. If the parties do agree that the dispute should be resolved by ICE, they must accept the decision of the ICE as final and binding.

If there is a dispute the Landlord must remit to The Dispute Service Limited the full Deposit, less any amounts already agreed by the parties and paid over to them. This must be done within 10 working days of being told that a dispute has been registered whether or not the parties want to consent it. Failure to do so will not delay the adjudication but The Dispute Service Limited will take appropiate action to recover the Deposit and discipline the appropriate party.

The Agent must co-operate with the ICE in the adjudication of the dispute and follow any recommendations concerning the method of the resolution of the dispute.

Incorrect Information - The Landlord warrants that all the information he has provided to the Agent is correct to the best of his knowledge and belief. In the event that the Landlord provides incorrect information to the Agent which causes the Agent to suffer loss or causes legal proceedings to be taken, the Landlord agrees to reimburse and compensate the Agent for losses suffered.

Where the Landlord is to receive the Deposit, the Agent will transfer it to him within 5 days of receiving it. The Landlord must then register it with another Tenancy Deposit Protection Scheme within a further 9 days if the Tenancy is an Assured Shorthold Tenancy. If the Landlord fails to do so the Tenant can take legal action against the Landlord in the County Court. The Court will make an order stating that the Landlord must pay the Deposit back to the Tenant or lodge it with the custodial scheme which is known as the Deposit Protection Scheme. In addition a further order will be made requiring the Landlord to pay compensation to the Tenant of an amount equal to three times the Deposit. The Landlord will be unable to serve a Section 21 Notice on his Tenant until compliance with the above conditions, and the Court will not grant the Landlord a possession order. The Agent has no liability for any loss suffered if the Landlord fails to comply.

Where The Deposit is sent to the Landlord, provided full payment of the noted Deposit has been paid by the Tenant, any shortfall in payment to the Landlord, due to fees and costs deducted, is not the responsibility of the Agent and must be made up and paid/held in full to the scheme by the Landlord.